All Things Urban

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the climate crisis continues to impact our cities, towns and regions around the world. Daring Cities is the global, action-oriented virtual forum, designed by ICLEI and the city of Bonn, to empower urban leaders - such as mayors, city councilors, administrators, and urban thought leaders, as well as national government representatives, researchers, technical staff, business leaders, civil society decision-makers and community organizers - to tackle the climate crisis, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Running from 7 to 28 October 2020, Daring Cities features ambitious global action in a variety of time zones, languages, and formats. Daring Cities brings together resilience, mitigation and climate action to provide a cohesive, integrated response to the current climate crisis, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban leaders will benefit from action-oriented case studies of cities, towns and regions that go beyond business as usual, providing a roadmap for business as possible. These case studies will be of those daring leaders who are going beyond the limits being set down by their contexts, such as local politics, community sentiment or national action, to take radical climate action. SPEAKERS The program of the virtual forum is composed of high level, visionary, and informative panel discussions, presentations, workshops, and personal networking opportunities featuring outstanding urban thought-leaders changemakers, including - António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; - Alok Sharma, COP26 President for the United Kingdom; - Ashok Sridharan, Mayor of Bonn and President of ICLEI; - Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability; - Shinjirō Koizumi, Minister of Environment, Japan; - Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat; - Dozens of Mayors and leaders from local governments around the world. **About ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability** ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (known as "ICLEI") is a global network of more than 1,750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in 100+ countries, we influence sustainability policy and drive local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development. Our Members and team of experts work together through peer exchange, partnerships and capacity building to create systemic change for urban sustainability. For more information about ICLEI, please visit: [https://iclei.org/](https://iclei.org/). **About the Federal City of Bonn** Daring Cities 2020 is co-designed by the Federal City of Bonn. An ICLEI Member since 2000, Bonn has been the seat of the ICLEI World Secretariat, while Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan currently serves as the President of ICLEI. Bonn is constantly working on improving its sustainable performance by adopting local action programs, successfully establishing forms of cooperation with cities all over the world and by launching activities in the field of education for sustainable development.

Urban leaders, such as mayors, city councilors, administrators and urban thought leaders, as well as national government representatives, researchers, technical staff, business leaders, civil society, decision-makers and community organizers.

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is the leading global network of over 2,500 cities, towns and regions committed​ to building​ a sustainable future.